Pam Douglas – Artists Statement for “Sanctuary”

We are in a startling time hearing the cries of children torn from their parents at the American border. Beyond this country, refugees are seeking sanctuary around the world. The multi-year Sanctuary project began as a visceral response to their humanity and has grown into a metaphor for all of us adrift at home in the winds of change.

For decades I created individual paintings and assemblages ranging from abstract through figurative in a variety of mediums and I’ve been in many exhibitions. I’ve been well reviewed in shows including the California African American Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. And my work was featured at the Los Angeles Art Show at the Convention Center in 2019.

Now Sanctuary is a three-part installation that expands on all my previous work. Entering Part One a visitor is immersed in life-size drawings with sculptural elements draped ceiling to floor behind a chain link fence. These walking figures are parents seeking refuge and children caged behind ropes. The 60-foot installation makes the viewer a witness to the refugee journey.

In Part One (2019), the figures travel by land. Part Two (2020) is travel by sea. Hand-made “rafts” have canvas sails where the refugees are drawn in the same charcoal style as the walkers. Behind the rafts that fan out across the gallery floor will be a 36-foot wide abstract mural that I painted to suggest the devastation they are escaping.

I am currently working on Part Three: The Shelters. A “village” of these large free-standing structures will culminate the journey.

Images here include three from Part One, two from Part Two, and an early tent from Sanctuary Part Three.

Website: http://pamdouglasart.com

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Curator Madeline Walsh